Unsorted Waste Research Articles

PROSPECTS OF THE APPLICATION OF LOW-TEMPERATURE PYROLYSIS PROCESSES FOR THE THERMAL DESTRUCTION OF HYDROCARBON-CONTAINING WASTE OF VARIOUS ORIGINS

A generalized analysis of the existing methods of utilization of hydrocarbon-containing waste of various origins and practical data on the existing experience of using low-temperature pyrolysis processes for the thermal destruction of hydrocarbon-containing municipal and oil waste are presented. A series of studies of thermochemical processes of waste destruction were conducted for both municipal solid waste and industrial waste. The common feature that unites the objects of research is their wide morphology, the presence of the predominant proportion of hydrocarbons and their derivatives. To implement the process of low-temperature pyrolysis of hydrocarbon-containing waste of various origins, a universal installation with a rotating reactor is proposed. The features of its operation, technical characteristics and advantages are presented. The prospects for further development of low-temperature pyrolysis technology for the utilization of unsorted waste groups from sorting complexes are substantiated. Bibl. 30, Fig. 2, Tab. 2.

Impact of a regulatory target and external factors on the waste efficiency of Italian municipalities.

Due to increasing consumption and urbanisation, urban waste management and recycling are a primary concern in Italy. Italian waste collection underwent significant reform with the introduction of a sorted collection target of 65% of total collected waste in Legislative Decree No. 152/2006. In this article, we analyse the effect of this regulatory target on the efficiency of waste collection in 275 Italian municipalities in the years 2016-2019. We estimate the coefficients of the cost efficiencies of the sorted and unsorted waste without assuming functional forms for the efficient frontier or the distribution of efficiency. Our findings suggest that municipalities that met the 65% sorted waste target demonstrated higher efficiency as costs increased, whereas those that failed to meet the target demonstrated higher inefficiency as costs increased. Strong effects emerged for population and urban economic development on the success of waste collection, whereas only marginal effects were observed for population density and city size. To improve the situation of municipalities that are not meeting the 65% target, we propose several policy measures, including 'neighbourhood solidarity'.

Sosialisasi Pentingnya Peduli Lingkungan dengan Program 3R di SMK Negeri 1 Cilegon

The problem of waste management is an urgent environmental issue and is often discussed in various forums. In Cilegon City, even though the government has implemented various waste management policies, such as Law Number 18 of 2008 and PP Number 81 of 2013, there are still obstacles in their implementation. The high habit of littering among Indonesian people worsens this situation. The socialization program for waste management based on the 3R principle (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) at SMK Negeri 1 Cilegon aims to increase students' awareness and involvement in waste management. Implementation of this program involves stages of socialization, technical training, program implementation, as well as monitoring and evaluation. The results of this activity show an increase in students' understanding of the 3R principles, with 80% of students actively implementing waste sorting at school. These activities also include environmental training and campaigns, which contribute to the reduction of unsorted waste. The evaluation results show that the educational and participatory approach is effective in increasing students' awareness of waste management. This program has not only succeeded in achieving the goals of environmental education in schools, but can also be used as a model for other educational institutions in their efforts to better waste management. Thus, it is hoped that the application of the 3R principles in the school environment can influence positive behavioral changes and support environmental sustainability efforts in the community.

СТРУКТУРА ПОР ЯЧЕИСТОГО БЕТОНА С ОТХОДАМИ СТЕКЛОБОЯ ЭЛЕКТРОННО-ЛУЧЕВЫХ ТРУБОК

To date, the issue of handling toxic unsorted waste of cathode ray tubes (CRT) glass cullet remains relevant. The present paper proposes to replace part of the fine aggregate of cellular concrete intended for sound, heat or radiation protection with CRT glass waste heat-treated in the presence of a sodium hydroxide solution. The purpose of the research is to study the structure formation of the cellular concrete pores in case of replacement of part of the aggregate. The microscopy of the samples fracture was studied both visually and using software that made it possible to estimate the pore size when convert-ing the image to the relief mode. The study showed that the aggregate replacement results not only in quantitative changes in pore size, but also in qualitative changes related to the mechanism of the pore structure formation. Thus, when adding unsorted waste heat-treated in an alkaline environment, with a particle diameter of no more than 630 μm, there was a decrease in pore size and a decrease in size distribution compared with the reference sample. The changes are caused by structure formation, which can be divided into two stages - the formation of conglomerates and their swelling. With a decrease in the diameter of the part of the waste of a maximum size of 90 μm, a decrease in the pore size was recorded compared to the reference value, but due to the concrete skeleton formation before the end of gas development, destruction of the pore walls was observed.

Assessing the Potential Climate Impacts and Benefits of Waste Prevention and Management: A Case Study of Sweden

This study employs a life cycle perspective to analyze the carbon footprints of various waste streams, evaluating 52 cases across 26 types of household waste in Sweden, with a focus on waste prevention and management. It demonstrates that while recycling can reduce carbon emissions, prevention could significantly enhance these benefits, with savings ranging from −36.5 to −0.01 kg-CO2-eq per kg of waste. Notably, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE), textiles, tires, residual household, and plastic waste are the top five fractions most amenable to prevention on a per mass basis. Further analysis, considering waste volumes, shows that targeted recycling of materials like WEEE, metals, and paper could account for over 80% of potential carbon savings. However, the majority of potential climate impact is attributed to the energy recovery of unsorted (mixed) waste, contributing to more than 90% of total impacts. Redirecting all mixed waste to recycling could triple carbon savings, but focusing on prevention could potentially increase benefits twenty-sevenfold, particularly for waste like WEEE, food, and textiles. This research provides a valuable tool for identifying key areas in waste management to optimize climate benefits and enhance public awareness. However, it advises using local data for precise planning due to inherent uncertainties.

Estimating the eco‐efficiency of urban waste services towards sustainable waste management

AbstractAssessing the eco‐efficiency of municipalities regarding the provision of solid waste services is a useful tool for improving its sustainability. However, robust, and reliable methods are needed to benchmark the performance of municipalities. Data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods typically used to assess the eco‐efficiency of municipal solid waste (MSW) service providers. However, the variables used in the eco‐efficiency assessment bear distinct weights for each individual unit, limiting thus interpretation. Therefore, benchmarking the performance of MSW service providers becomes challenging because different conditions are applied. Thus, this study uses a common set weights DEA (DEA‐CSW) model assess the eco‐efficiency of different municipalities in providing MSW services. Eco‐efficiency scores were estimated by integrating total costs, recycled waste and unsorted waste as input, desirable outputs and undesirable outputs, respectively. The empirical application of the model demonstrated that when using DEA‐CSW, only one municipality (out of 36) was eco‐efficient in managing MSW. The weightings for inputs and outputs were allocated based on the degree of satisfaction estimated for each municipality. Satisfaction ranged from 0.829 to 1.000 indicating that none of the municipalities were heavily penalized based on the eco‐efficiency scores estimation when allocating common weights. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that compared to traditional DEA models, the DEA‐CSW approach is more adequate at benchmarking the performance of municipalities regarding the provision of MSW services.

Measuring ecoefficiency of municipal solid waste management in Apulia to account for governance heterogeneities

This paper adopts a meta-frontier non-parametric directional distance function framework to measure the ecoefficiency of municipal solid waste (MSW) services in 258 municipalities in the Apulia region from 2012 to 2016. Model specification includes the operating cost per quantity of waste as input and the per capita quantities of sorted and unsorted waste as the desirable and undesirable outputs. The heterogeneities due to the different governance systems implemented in the six areas in which the regional territory was partitioned to manage the MSW service were considered. A dynamic distributional analysis of MSW ecoefficiencies was performed, and determinants affecting their measure were investigated. The results show that the average MSW service meta-frontier ecoefficiency decreased from 0.631 to 0.546, while the technology gap ratio value diminished from 0.899 to 0.827. Findings relative to the impact on ecoefficiency of variables measuring either the size or density of MSW services remain inconclusive.

Issues of solid household waste disposal in the context of state environmental policy in Sevastopol

The peculiarities of the current situation with the environmental crisis require careful study of the waste recycling of previously accumulated and newly generated solid municipal waste. The use of technological developments and solutions for environmental conservation meets the most stringent ecological standards. These demands are due to the special natural and climatic status of Sevastopol. The purpose of the study is to substantiate the use of effective and simple method of sorting solid waste –hydraulic separation of solid household waste as one of the types of industrial waste separation. The article presents its advantages and possible application in Sevastopol. This advanced technology is stated to be effective in waste recycling as it provides separating unsorted waste and utilizing almost 80 percent of the volume. A feature of this method is the use of equipment manufactured for the paper industry for sorting and processing solid waste. In conclusion it is noted that the particularbenefit of the hydraulic separation is in its relative simplicity, as well as economic and environmental profits.

Review of the Policy, Social, Operational, and Technological Factors Affecting Cigarette Butt Recycling Potential in Extended Producer Responsibility Programs

Cigarette butts (CBs) are the most diffuse waste in the world, often abandoned into the environment without proper disposal. They are dangerous because of the numerous harmful chemicals potentially released by them into the environment. In the literature, there are several technological options for CB recycling, but some critical concerns could affect their effectiveness due to the quality and quantity of CB litter that is collected in the proper way. The extended producer responsibility scheme for CBs is proposed at the Europe level as an action to tackle CB litter and encourage sustainable product development. The present paper focuses on analyzing the existing literature to identify critical issues within the policy framework, social behavior, waste collection and transport, and technological processes. The collection and transport of CB waste is a major issue, being a key step for bringing CB to the recycling process. The main concern is the small quantity of CBs collected: 0.06% of the municipal waste and 0.18% of the unsorted waste in the case study’s administrative area of Perugia. Another crucial issue is the need for behavioral interventions to increase education and awareness of citizens that are smokers, addressing the discrepancy between smokers’ behaviors and beliefs. The main results, along with the critical issues related to the topics, are highlighted.

Pay-as-you-throw tariff and sustainable urban waste management: An empirical analysis of relevant effects

Sustainable waste management presents a critical global challenge, necessitating the development of strategies for waste reduction and enhanced recycling. This study explores the impact of pay-as-you-throw tariffs (PAYTT) on promoting sustainable urban waste management. Propensity score matching was employed to analyse data from 7583 Italian municipalities. The study assesses the effects of PAYTT on both total and unsorted urban waste and evaluates their influence on the quantity and quality of separate waste collection. The findings indicate that the implementation of PAYTT effectively aligns with EU waste hierarchy policies. Municipalities adopting PAYTT experience reduced total and unsorted waste generation, along with improved quantity and quality of separate waste collections. Consequently, PAYTT holds significant potential for widespread application throughout the EU, contributing to enhanced separate waste collection efforts.

Selected properties of MDF boards bonded with various fractions of recycled HDPE particles

Selected properties of MDF boards bonded with various fractions of recycled HDPE particles.The substitution of non-renewable, formaldehyde-based amine wood binders in the wood-based composites industry is one of the main directions of trials and research. On the other hand, a bigger effort should be put into carbon capture and storage (CCS) activity, especially in the case of oil-based plastics, to extend their life in the products. The aim of the research was to use waste high-density polyethylene (HDPE) in MDF panels and determine their selected properties, including modulus of elasticity in bending, bending strength, internal bond, thickness swelling, water absorption, screw withdrawal resistance, density profile when referred to the fraction of used HDPE.The panels were created in laboratory conditions with a 50% weight content of HDPE particles of different fractions (<1 mm, <2 mm, <4 mm, and a mixed fraction containing 25% of each fraction and unsorted waste). The results show that the highest strength and modulus of elasticity were obtained for panels with plastic fractions below 1 mm. This fraction also achieved the lowest results for water absorption and thickness swelling. The fraction of the used plastic has no significant effect on screw withdrawal resistance. The negative impact of using larger fractions in the board is noticeable, however, for the mixed fraction, the results are similar to the finest fraction in terms of the internal bond, thickness swelling, and water absorption. The addition of HDPE can have a beneficial effect on the parameters of MDF panels. It is possible to create fibreboards from wasted plastic, store carbon dioxide in them, and upcycle them. In the discussed panels, the only binder for wood fibres was HDPE, so panels should not emit formaldehyde from the binder.

Does a zero-waste strategy in sustainable urban waste management affect hierarchy targets and costs?

In this study, the effects and costs of adopting a zero-waste (ZW) strategy were evaluated. Using the propensity score matching method and data on Italian municipalities from 2019, our empirical analysis indicates that the separate collection rate was approximately 4% higher and urban unsorted waste was approximately 22–26 kg per capita lower for municipalities that have formally adopted the ZW strategy, confirming its effectiveness in fostering sustainable waste management. The cost for inhabitants was 13–16 euros higher for ZW municipalities than non-ZW municipalities, which confirms the importance of balancing through the sale of recycling materials.

Influence of Waste Glass Addition on the Fire Resistance, Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Geopolymer Composites.

Nowadays, humanity has to face the problem of constantly increasing amounts of waste, which cause not only environmental pollution but also poses a critical danger to human health. Moreover, the growth of landfill sites involves high costs of establishment, development, and maintenance. Glass is one of the materials whose recycling ratio is still insufficient. Therefore, in the presented work, the influence of the particle size and share of waste glass on the consistency, morphology, specific surface area, water absorption, setting time, and mechanical properties of geopolymers was determined. Furthermore, for the first time, the fire resistance and final setting time of such geopolymer composites were presented in a wide range. Based on the obtained results, it was found that the geopolymer containing 20% unsorted waste glass obtained a final setting time that was 44% less than the sample not containing waste glass, 51.5 MPa of compressive strength (135.2% higher than the reference sample), and 13.5 MPa of residual compressive strength after the fire resistance test (164.7% more than the reference sample). Furthermore, it was found that the final setting time and the total pore volume closely depended on the additive's share and particle size. In addition, the use of waste glass characterized by larger particle sizes led to higher strength and lower mass loss after exposure to high temperatures compared to the composite containing smaller ones. The results presented in this work allow not only for reducing the costs and negative impact on the environment associated with landfilling but also for developing a simple, low-cost method of producing a modern geopolymer composite with beneficial properties for the construction industry.

‘Pay as you own’ or ‘pay as you throw’? A counterfactual evaluation of alternative financing schemes for waste services

Italian municipalities finance waste services by applying either a general property tax (“pay-as-you own” system, PAYO) or, less frequently, a fee calibrated to the waste produced by each household (“pay-as-you throw” system, PAYT). The aim of this paper is to estimate what would be the impact of a massive implementation of PAYT schemes. We gather information for a panel of Italian municipalities, covering a ten years time span, in order to assess the impact of switching from PAYO to PAYT on both the amount of waste generated by households and the cost for waste services. Our empirical strategy is based on a IV 3SLS cost model in a counterfactual setting and deals with the simultaneous determination of the demand and supply side of waste services, also taking into account the cross dependency among sorted and unsorted waste. Our results show that the adoption of PAYT schemes brings a simultaneous significant reduction in both quantity and cost, especially for unsorted waste.

Post-Consumer Plastic Waste Management: From Collection and Sortation to Mechanical Recycling

Challenges associated with plastic waste management range from littering to high collection costs to low recycling rates. Effective collection of plastics is obviously an important step in the management of plastic waste and has an impact on recycling rates. For this reason, several countries have transformed their collection systems in recent decades. Collecting more plastic packaging comes at a cost, as the feedstock for the sorting process becomes more complex and leads to cross-contamination within the sorted fractions. Therefore, a balance must be obtained between some elements, such as the design of packaging, collection and recycling rates, and finally, the quality of fractions that have been sorted. Further investment to improve pretreatment, sorting, and recycling technologies and simpler recyclable packaging designs are, therefore, key to further increasing plastic recycling rates. It is essential to possess more data, especially on the type of containers and plastics, and examine how often unsorted waste is collected. The automated waste collection monitoring system is a step forward in automating manual waste collection and sorting. Multi-sensory artificial intelligence (AI) for sorting plastic waste and the blockchain sorting platform for the circular economy of plastic waste are forward-looking activities that will increase the efficiency of recycling plastic waste. This review focuses on the development of collection systems and sorting processes for post-consumer plastic recycling. The focus is on best practices and the best available technology. Separate collection systems for recyclable plastics are presented and discussed along with their respective technical collection and sorting solutions, taking into consideration that progress in separation and sorting systems are implicitly linked to approaches to waste collection.

Exploring the effects of waste sorting on plants and their diversity using a literature analysis approach

Waste separation is one of the key topics of research today. Researchers have found that unsorted waste is caused by people's weak environmental awareness and inadequate policies, yet there is a research gap on the impact of unsorted waste on plants. Therefore, the research topic of this paper is to explore the effect of unsorted waste on plant growth and its diversity. The research method of this paper is as follows, firstly, we read the literature to collect the background and reasons leading to the unsorted waste from government, people and biological levels. Secondly, data on heavy metal content in soil were collected to analyze the effects of their heavy metals on plants. The study showed that excessive heavy metal content in soil has a negative impact on the growth of plants and is detrimental to the growth of plants and the conservation of their diversity. Therefore, the correct sorting and disposal of waste contributes to the sustainability of the environment, and thus to the growth of plants and their diversity.

Monetary valuation of unsorted waste: A shadow price approach

Improving the management of municipal solid waste (MSW) is fundamental to promote circular economy and sustainability. Unsorted waste involves negative environmental impacts which often are ignored in economic feasibility studies due to its difficult valuation. In this study the shadow price of unsorted waste using the directional distance function was estimated. This methodological approach also allowed us to compute eco-efficiency scores of a set of municipalities in the provision of MSW services. The empirical application focused on a sample of 119 Chilean municipalities. The results showed that the average shadow price of unsorted waste was 297.66 €/ton which means that the environmental cost of left waste as unsorted was 297.66 € per ton. A regression tree model illustrated that population density, tourism intensity and the generation of waste per capita significantly influenced the shadow price of unsorted waste. Moreover, it was illustrated that Chilean municipalities were very inefficient in the management of MSW since the average eco-efficiency score was 0.272. The findings from this study reveal that additional and alternative policies should be adopted to improve the management of MSW and increase its recycling rate.

Factors influencing eco-efficiency of municipal solid waste management in Chile: A double-bootstrap approach.

Improving eco-efficiency in the provision of municipal solid waste plays an important role for a sustainable economy. Eco-efficiency of municipal solid waste service providers (MSWSPs) has been generally assessed using the conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) method. However, this approach is sensitive to data noise and has no statistical properties. To overcome these limitations, in this paper, we adopt the double-bootstrap DEA model to derive robust eco-efficiency scores. This nonparametric method allows conducting statistical inference to explore environmental factors affecting the eco-efficiency of MSWSPs. The empirical approach focused on a sample of 298 MSWSPs in Chile, a middle-income country whose policies for promoting waste recycling are incipient. The results indicated that based on the bias-corrected eco-efficiency scores, the potential saving in costs and unsorted waste could be up to 37.8% on average to generate the same level of output (recycled waste). The findings showed that dealing with data noise and uncertainly is of great importance when conducting benchmarking analysis. The region where the municipality is located, tourism, population density and waste per capita are environmental variables that significantly influenced eco-efficiency of Chilean MSWSPs. Several policy implications are discussed based on the findings of this study.

Perspectives of decentralised gasification of residual municipal solid waste

In the European Union (EU), the dominant technology for high-temperature thermal treatment of residual Municipal Solid Waste (i.e., the unsorted waste where source separation is performed) is the moving grate incineration. The process of combustion in this sector has been optimised thanks to the introduction of stringent criteria of operation both in the combustion chamber and in the treatment of the generated off-gas. However, the costs of treatment can be sustainable only if the tariff to be applied for the service is coherent with the average value found in the sector. The literature demonstrates that, under a capacity threshold, the grate system is out of market, thus limiting the implementation of small decentralised plants. This paper discusses the potential benefits of small-scale and decentralised thermo-chemical treatment plants replacing a single large-scale one. In addition, the present article analyses the consequences of the results of a recent survey that zoomed in on the availability of small-scale gasifiers for implementing such a strategy. The results of this analysis show that small-scale gasification is preferable to other technologies (e.g., incineration and pyrolysis) in terms of scale effect and flexibility/modularity. Compared to other thermal treatments, the local environmental impact could be reduced by converting syngas into fuels or chemicals rather than burning it for direct energy recovery. The paper also shows that small-scale gasification is able to respond to different needs in both EU and non-EU countries, like the management of progressively lower amounts of residual waste requiring treatment/management of uncontrolled dump sites.

Still edible wasted food from households: A regional Italian case study.

A 2-year monitoring campaign was carried out within the Marche Region (Italy) to quantify the potential still edible wasted food (seFW) within the sorted (seFWsorted) and unsorted (seFWunsorted) waste streams. Results were elaborated to estimate the distribution of seFW among the five provinces and the amount per capita. Results in terms of total quantities per inhabitants (seFWindex per capita) depict an important variability between districts but almost constant in years (26-38 kg/inhabitants in 2018 and 26-36 kg/inhabitants in 2019). Scores in Marche were then used to study the national situation, adopting the same percentage factors. Analysis was performed on 2019 data. Gradual colour shade was used to identify the Regions with greater seFW production potential. Worst scores are achieved by Lazio, Lombardia and Sicilia (red), followed by others classified as orange and yellow. More than 1.5 Mt potential seFW was estimated at national level, 29% of which is due to the unsorted fraction. Results at national level were used to assess the potential environmental impact related to seFW in terms of climate change. Carbon footprint indicator was quantified per capita (69 kg equivalent carbon dioxide (CO2e)/inhabitant/year in the case of Marche) and overall (3.5 MtCO2e). In addition, an evaluation of the potential economic implications related to the greenhouse gases emitted was made using the Social Cost of Carbon. Results showed that cost of the tCO2e global damage related to seFW in Italy ranges from 35 to 700 M$.